Comin' Up
by StrydeVex
Summary: This is Jared's story. Jared is a teenage boy who has lived his life with an absent father he never met, a mother who blames everything wrong in her life on him, and very few friends. Maybe Jared will finally find where he belongs, and a person who really loves him. Music, composed by artists or myself. Please enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello everyone! I'm still on my car ride and have nothing better to do, so I'm going to start my next story!**

**A couple quick notes. This story is going to be about an alter-ego of mine that I have altered the appearance of, but he has the same personality as me when I'm in my more depressed state that I get into sometimes. This story is going to be about him pursuing happiness in any way he can because he has very few friends, no father, and a bad relationship with his mother. Part of this is that he will pursue a career in music if he can, and the songs I reference in this story may have explicit lyrics, so do not look them up if you are offended by language. I will only use clean excerpts from them in this story, so don't worry about that. Also, don't assume this is what my life is like. I have a very good life, and this isn't symbolic of it except for a couple things. The large thing in this is my OC's personality. Also, for those of you who care, I'm trying to work on getting into rap and hip-hop if I can. Don't ignore this story because of that please, very little of it has to do with it, it's just a way for me to progress the story and do character building.**

**Alright, well, I don't have an exact plan for this story, so be forgiving. I hope you enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 1**

Jared's POV

Hi. I'm Jared, and I'm going to tell you my story, but for that, you need to know a little about me first. I'm 6' 2", I'm tanner than most people, I have black hair with a dark red streak that I dyed into it, and I have green eyes with gold specks. I'm also ADHD and have a slight case of dyslexia.

I never knew my father although my mother said he was a great man. I also have a bad relationship with my mother, and I have since I was about eight years old, because she turned to alcohol to fight her depression when she got into her moods when she missed my dad and hated everything about what had happened to her. She was mad about my dad, what she had to live through, and me. She blamed me for her problems, and said I was the reason my dad had left. I live in New York City with my mom and nearly no friends.

That's what you need to know, and now I hope you listen to my story.

I was sixteen years old and I'd just gotten out of school. I didn't want to go home, because I knew my mom would probably be in her drunken angry state right now, she usually was at this time of day, so I decided to go hang out with my friend Josh.

Josh was in the same boat as I was, he had two parents who hated him and he'd been kicked out as soon as he finished high school. He's two years older than me, and had his own apartment, but I'd known him since I was in sixth grade, and we'd been good friends for a long time. I walked for about twenty minutes to get to his apartment.

When I got there, I knocked at the door of his apartment and heard a voice call "Come in!"

I walked in the door to see the usual look of his apartment, mostly clean, but a couple things laying around. Josh didn't care about impressing others, but he did try to be clean. It was nice, and it was comfortable instead of feeling like walking around would dirty the place.

"Josh!" I yelled into the apartment.

"Jared? How've you been?" I heard him call back.

"Where are you?" I called back, ignoring his question for the moment.

"Where do you think?"

I sighed and walked into the room that served as his office/bedroom to find him working on a computer. Josh was actually a really smart guy, but he didn't have the money to go to college, so along with his job he made some extra money building computers for people. When I walked in he was just putting the graphics card into place.

"I would get up, just let me finish putting this in." He said.

I nodded and waited. After a couple seconds he got onto his knees and then up to his feet. "I've been bent over working on that for too long." He said, stretching his back.

"So, now that you're not working, to answer your question, I've been alright. Just been at school."

"Well, there are worse places to be." He said back.

I nodded.

"So," he started, "Have you considered it yet?"

I looked down at my feet, "I don't know man, I don't have that much cash to try to enter with, I'm strapped as it is without trying to enter that."

Josh had asked me to try entering into a rap competition **(I promise this will not be a rap based story!)**, and the entry was $50 dollars, and if you won you could win $500 and you would be reviewed by a record company, and if they thought you were good enough, they might offer a contract. I couldn't afford that. If I entered and I didn't win, I would nearly be starving for the next month, because my mom expected me to buy my own food because it wasn't her choice that I was here.

"Come on! I saw you at that battle a couple weeks ago, you won hands down! You could do it, and you know you can too."

I shook my head, "I'm not good enough, I won that battle by sheer luck-"

He immediately cut me off "No you didn't, stop being a pessimist! Give credit where credit is due, even when it's yourself. If you enter that, you could finally make it big and not be working a part time job at a grocery store to feed yourself."

I bit my lip, trying to think about what he said. "Give me more time to think about it."

He looked a bit irritated, but replied "Sure, just remember you only have 3 weeks until the registration is up, and you're out of school in 1 week."

I brightened up a bit at the thought of being done with school for the summer.

"Well, I should probably get going. My mom is going to get angry if I'm not home soon."

He looked at me for a second, "Do you want me to walk with you?"

I got annoyed immediately, "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that. I'm not a child, I can handle myself fine."

"Whether you can handle yourself or not, stalkers are not something to take lightly Jared."

A couple weeks ago, I'd told Josh about one of the odd things that had happened to me. For a couple of days, every day after school some guy with a hate covering his face and a leather jacket would follow me home. He was always in the distance, or across the street, but I knew he was following me, and it made me twitch more than usual. On the way home. Odd stuff like this happened a couple times throughout my childhood. Random people who seemed to be following me or watching me, and I'd overheard people talking about me before saying that it was almost as if shadows were gathering around me.

"It's fine, I've grown up in New York, I know how to avoid people if I need to."

I could tell he wanted to argue, but he didn't.

"Fine, just make sure you don't get hurt or in trouble."

"Alright, I'll see you again sometime soon then."

He nodded and I headed to the door. I picked up my backpack and zipped up my jacket. I stepped out and went onto the street. I walked through people and made my way towards my apartment.

It took me about thirty minutes, but I made it to my apartment building. I walked up the stairs to the door of the apartment where I stayed.

Just like every day I came home, I felt a small amount of fear pool in my stomach. My hands instinctively went to my shoulders and started rubbing the scars while I looked at the door.

I gathered all the courage I could, braced myself, and pulled open the door.

**That's the end of chapter 1! What do you guys think? I'd love to see your input and thoughts on the story and where you think it should go. I'll try to make the chapters in this story a bit longer than my last one had. Well, I don't really have anything else to add, but I'm within an hour of my house, so I won't have time to brainstorm any more ideas today. Please review and let me know what you think!**

**I hope to see you in the next one!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello once again everyone. I know only about, 17 people I think, have read this, but I got one review from someone who's excited to read this, and I don't feel like disappointed people, regardless of the number.**

**Music in this chapter (I do not own any of it): Mac Miller's Thoughts From a Balcony**

**So the story continues, please review and let me know what you think about this story, and thank you for reading!**

**Chapter 2!**

Jared's POV

I pushed the door open. I saw the familiar sights of my "home". The living room was a mess, probably the result of one of my mom's fits of anger after drinking because she didn't have me here to yell at and get it out. I saw the shards of a broken vase near the end of one of the couches, and I saw a couple empty beer bottles on the coffee table in front of the couches.

I heard some cursing and noise coming from my mom's room and assumed she must've gotten through the angry stage of this drinking session, and she was trying to do something or other back in her room.

I set down my backpack on our kitchen table and looked at the clock. It said 5:30. I'd been at Josh's apartment for longer than I thought. I hoped my mom wouldn't come out and yell at me for getting home later than she wanted me, but in the stage she was in, that was very unlikely.

I walked to the cupboards and got a glass. I was filling it with water to get a drink when I heard a voice behind me say, "You're late."

My hand instinctively tightened around the glass. I turned around me see my mom. She didn't really look angry, but then again she could go off at the smallest things.

"I went to talk to Josh after school, he's been trying to get me into some activities." It wasn't really a lie, just not exactly the truth.

"I told you to come home right after school." She said, still with a blank face.

"I forgot, I'm sorry, I just wanted to go see how Josh was, I hadn't seen him in a long time."

"Just because you want something doesn't mean you get it without the consequences." She said, and took a step towards me.

I instinctively took a step back and one of my hands moved to the scars on my shoulders. I saw a spark of anger appear in her eyes.

"Why don't you do what you're supposed to and let me show you what you've done wrong."

She took another step towards me and I stepped to the side and around her so I was closer to the door.

"Come here Jared." I heard the threatening tone in her voice.

I shook my head and I saw the anger surface in her expression. I immediately turned around and threw my backpack over my shoulders as I ran out the door as I heard her yell my name.

I sat alone in the park, listening to the second-hand iPod I'd gotten from someone at school in return for helping him pass a class. This was my only escape from everything, to come to the park and listen to my music.

I thought about what had happened to my mother, and how she had changed since she started drinking. I couldn't hate her, she'd sacrificed a lot for me, but I didn't dare be around her because I was afraid of her. The best way to describe how I felt was something I overheard once, I loved her a lot, but I didn't like her.

I was lost in thought, thinking about my mother, Josh's suggestion, and what my life had become. I randomly started paying attention to my music again to hear Thoughts From a Balcony by Mac Miller. This had been one of my favorite songs for a while now, but I never really listened to the lyrics. For the first time, I focused on what he was saying.

I couldn't help but feel like the lyrics applied to me for part of the song.

_Lemme get a one-way ticket, haven't picked a destination_

_Just tryna catch the train before it has to leave the station_

_Packin' no bags, nothin' but the clothes on my back_

I listened to the lyrics, letting myself float out of the world around me, and just listening and enjoying the music.

_Yeah, it's me against the world, I guess I'll take them on_

_I might stop and see my girl, but I ain't stayin' long_

_What if I'm gone, what you gon' think then?_

_I told my story, put my life inside this ink pen_

I couldn't help but feel somewhere inside me that this song related to me. It was me against the world, but it was as if I'm unarmed, because I have nothing to contribute or give the world to prove myself… except…

_They just dreams, turn 'em to reality_

_Double-cup of lean, standin' on my balcony_

_Looking at the sky, thinkin' it could all be mine_

_All we got is memories, so what is time_

_Looking at the street, thinkin' it could all be mine_

_All we got is memories, so what is time_

I stood up and put my iPod back into my pocket. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and started walking. I wasn't going home though, I was going to Josh's apartment.

I had decided I needed to talk to him, because I had finally made my choice. I was going to enter in the competition.

**Sorry for the short chapter guys, but there was nothing else that needed to be said in this chapter. This was meant to show Jared's relationship with his mother and give him the reason to go for Josh's idea. The chapters should be longer in later chapters, this is just building the story up for the rest of the plot. I hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think. To all of you who have chosen to read this story even though it's an OC, which aren't very popular, thank you! It means a lot to me!**

**I hope to see you in the next one!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello again! Well, I've made some poor choices, I now have three stories to work on simultaneously. I'll try to get as many updates out for all of them as I can, but don't hold me to it if I miss a day or two please, it's a lot of writing and planning for three of them.**

**Welcome back to anyone who's been here the whole time so far, and welcome to the people who are reading this for the first time! Please enjoy!**

**Music in this chapter: All mine! Not taken from anywhere, I wrote it.**

**Chapter 3**

Jared's POV

I'd walked to Josh immediately that night. When I told him I was going to enter in the competition, he smiled. "I knew you would come around."

I rolled my eyes at him, but he was my best (and only) friend, so I started talking to him about what I was going to do for the competition. I needed to get to work writing a song for it, but I didn't have time to try to compose my own beat, so I needed to find a good one off of the internet or maybe the instrumental of a song I could use. He also told me I needed to get some new, nicer clothes for it. When I asked him why, he said, as if it was obvious, "A big part of rap is appearance, you can't go out there in old clothes that you've had for a year."

I still didn't get why, but he said he would help me out with it. I didn't have any extra money after I took account of the money I would lose to enter. He said he would help me with it, because he'd just gotten paid for a computer a few days ago, although he said if I went far in rap (He couldn't get off of the idea that I was something special) that I could make up for it then.

It was late, but I knew I shouldn't go back home until my mom was asleep, so Josh said I could use his computer while he was working to start looking for a beat to write to. I had a paper and a pen and went to work, looking around the internet for something I liked.

After a couple of hours of looking, I finally found one I liked. I tapped my foot softly as I listened, imagining the structure of the lyrics I would need to make. I started writing down the beginning of what would become my first serious song.

The weeks went by very much the same, day after day. School ended and the time for the competition was approaching very rapidly. I wasn't sure I was ready yet, but my song was progressing steadily.

I spent almost every afternoon at Josh's place, working. He didn't mind letting me use his computer, because I didn't have one, nor the money to buy one to work. He liked to talk to me as I worked, looking at my song as I worked with it, and giving me ideas and suggestions.

Apart from that, my days were very boring and predictable. I spent every morning at my job, working as a cashier/janitor/anything else they needed me to do. They paid me in cash every day because they knew I needed it to buy my own food, so I didn't have to go cash a check.

I usually stayed at Josh's apartment working pretty late, so I hardly saw my mom. I felt guilty saying it, but I was happy about that. I was scared she would go off at me again, and I wanted to be able to avoid that as much as I could.

I'd just finished another session of writing, and I was finally done writing my song. It wasn't the final product, but editing was the short part of writing. I could finally relax a bit. The competition was in three days, and I was done writing. I just needed to edit, which would probably take a day or two, but it was manageable.

I laid down on the floor and, for the first time in several weeks, relaxed. Josh walked in and saw me on the floor. "You ok?"

I nodded, "I'm fine, just finished writing the song. All that's left is the editing phase."

He smiled, "Ok, good, I thought you had a seizure or something and was laying there."

"I'm much too mentally stable for the kind of thing." I answered sarcastically.

He offered me his hand and helped me up. I brushed off my grey jeans and my jacket I was wearing.

"Well, if you finally have time, we need to go get your new clothes. You have to set an image of some sort at this competition."

"Do I have to?" I asked. I sounded kind of childish, I know, but I still didn't know why.

"Come on, you'll like them, and if you behave I'll buy you an ice cream." He said, smiling as he used a voice you would use for a five year-old.

I rolled my eyes, but nodded, the followed him out of his apartment as he led me towards wherever he had in mind to look for clothes.

I found myself at a skate shop, looking in the windows. "This is really where you brought me?"

"Yeah, and shut up. You'll like the clothes, come on."

I followed him in and he led me around to some of the clothing racks. I looked them over, and found that many- no, most- of them were really stupid or made no sense whatsoever. One had a picture of a cat with lasers going out its eyes.

I looked at Josh with my eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"I know, a lot of them are terrible, you just have to look into the right brands. Obey is good, so is Volcom, Aeropostale and Hollister are pretty good too, but for now we only need one set of clothes for you."

He led me to a new spot and as we walked around, pulled out a couple shirts, a pair of near-black jeans, some skate shoes, and a hat.

He sent me into a dressing room. A couple minutes later I came out in the Volcom hat that was black and grey, the jeans, a grey Obey shirt, and the skate shoes.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He asked, once again talking like I was five.

"No, now can I change back?"

"Is that what you're going to wear?"

"Sure." I replied. To be honest, I liked the clothes I had on, but I couldn't let him know that, or he would harass me about it for a weeks that he was right.

"Alright, let's go. You should probably get home, you have work tomorrow morning."

I nodded and we went to the front, paid for the clothes, and left. We split after a little ways of walking and I went home and he went to his apartment.

When I walked in my apartment, there was no one up, so my mom must be asleep already.

I picked the empty beer bottles off of the table and put them in the trash, then picked up a few things around the apartment before going to bed.

I laid on my bed, running the lyrics of my song through my head for a few minutes. It was a bit of a personal song, but then again, most rap was. It was supposed to tell a story. I drifted off to sleep.

The next two days went by quickly, editing the song went well and was done in about four hours in one night. I'd still gone to Josh's and talked to him though, it was better than being home.

Today was the competition, all I had to do was get through work and then it would be at 7 tonight. I got dressed, threw my clothes into my backpack and left for work.

Work was over, so I grabbed my stuff, collected my payment for the day, and walked to Josh's apartment. He met me at the door, smiling. "You ready?"

"Of course, I've been at this for three weeks."

He just nodded, still smiling. He did that a lot lately.

I went into his office and changed into my clothes for the competition, and ran through the lines of my song a couple of times. I had it all memorized, and I knew I would perform well tonight.

I came back out and found him leaning against the doorway waiting for me.

"I'm ready, let's go."

"Alright." He said simply, then we walked out. He locked the door behind us, and we started walking.

I was unfamiliar with the area where the competition was being held, so I followed Josh through the streets. I saw a couple random guys that looked shady waiting at the mouths of alleys, but they didn't worry me. I was taller than most of them and I'd grown up in New York, I could handle myself just fine.

We finally found the building. It looked rundown, but not shady. Just like a building that should have been remodeled half a decade ago.

We walked inside and saw a couple people standing around. We were a bit early, so not everyone was here yet, but there were some. A couple of them were my age, about 17 (My birthday had come over the last few weeks), and some in their early 20s. All of us looked a little down on our luck, some wearing generic clothes, some had second-hand clothes.

I leaned against a wall at the edge of the crowd, and watched everyone. I brushed my black and red hair out of my eyes and fidgeted with my simple silver ring that Josh had found for me yesterday. He said he thought it looked cool and wanted me to wear it, so I figured why not. It had a simple design on it that showed something like a life cycle, but it all ended on a skull. I liked it, so I held onto it for this.

Finally the time came for people to start. Everyone watched as one by one, we took the stage to our selected beats and put out our lyrics. I smirked at how bad some of them were, but most of them were respectable.

When the time came for me, I felt a bit nervous.

I looked over at Josh and he just nodded. I walked to the stage and stood in the center. I was also the last person to compete, because I was the last to register for this.

I waited, and the beat to my song began. I waited through the intro of it, and then, I began.

_There are people who are handed, without the slightest work, the riches to life_

_For me, that's crap, I work for everything, and it's become quite the strife_

_My mother blames me for every wrong, so much I nearly considered a knife_

_To my wrist, but I can handle it, I grind, but so poor that it's an option to siph-on_

I continues on, telling about my life, and how much I struggled through my life.

I finally reached the end of the song.

_So now I'm at the point in life where this rap is my last and only chance_

_I work it to give you all a reason to stand up, get down, and dance_

_I tell the story of my life, what I'ma make it, try to make a balance_

_And now, if it's worth it to, can I finally hear you put together your hands?_

The music stopped, and it was silent for a few seconds, then… applause.

Everyone kept on clapping and several minutes. The man running the competition came up to me, and took the mic. He congratulated me for my performance and told everyone it would be a few minutes before the judges had their final scores.

I went back down to the crowd and found Josh. I walked up to him to see him grinning at me. "Dude, you killed it up there!"

"It wasn't that amazing, I don't see why everyone is making such a big deal out of it."

He rolled his eyes and we saw the man go back on stage with a card. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce the winner of this competition is Jared."

Everyone clapped and a few of the people around me shook my hand and congratulated me, although there were a few of the better ones I was against who were glaring at me.

The man walked up to me and handed me the check for the prize money, which I quickly put into my pocket.

"You could go places kid, I'll send the video of your performance out tonight for consideration for a contract, although you'll have to wait until you're 18 I hope you're aware." I nodded. "Well, congratulations, and I wish you luck."

He walked off and left me alone with Josh so we stood there for a few seconds, before another person walked up to me.

This person was actually a guy who looked a bit similar to me. He had black hair, but he had dark eyes, pale skin, and was about average height. His hair was long, he had a leather jacket and black jeans on. He had a blank expression on, and he was hard to read. I knew he hadn't been one of the competitors, so he must've just been here to watch.

"Congratulations on winning. That was pretty impressive."

"Thanks. Are you here for a friend, or did you just come to watch?"

"I actually came to look for someone, but I haven't had much luck."

"What do they look like? I could help you look for them."

"I don't know." He said.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know what they look like."

"Umm, ok. What's your name by the way? I'm Jared."

"I heard him say what your name was. And my name is Nico diAngelo."

"That's an interesting name, where are you from?"

"It's an Italian name."

"That's cool." I said, but awkwardly stood there. I wasn't sure what I should do now, but that's when I heard a scream.

**That's it for this chapter! How was it? And are you glad Nico came into the story? I was talking to a friend and thought it would be interesting to do it this way, so I hope you like it. Also, how was my song? I composed that bit of rap that Jared used, it wasn't taken from anywhere, and I'd like to know how I did, if you're into rap. Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far.**

**I hope to see you in the next one!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hey everybody. How are you doing? I'm sorry about the lack of updates on any of my stories yesterday, but I was gone all day (not to school, or I would've had empty classes to write in) and when I got home I wanted to relax because I'd been walking all day. So, I'll try to make up for it with updates for all of my stories today. I've already posted the update for my one-shots series, it was a Jiper (or Jasper is you prefer), so if you want, go check that out, and I'll update The Return after this one. Just to clarify for anyone who is also reading that one, it's not over, I'm also going to include the return to the mortal world (Spoiler, it may take a while before they can leave the island). Enough about them though, this isn't either of them.**

**Please enjoy, I'm getting close to the best parts of this story.**

**Chapter 4!**

Jared's POV

Nico and I both immediately jerked our heads to look in the direction of the scream. I couldn't see anything from where I was, but I could hear more people screaming and noise coming from that direction. People were pushing in every directions.

I heard Nico curse under his breath, but it wasn't in English.

"What was that?" I asked him quickly. It probably wasn't the time for this, but I was ADHD, and I asked without thinking.

"Greek." He answered simply, then I saw his and inching closer to his jacket.

Suddenly, I heard a loud growl, and a… something, pounced out of the crowd. It almost looked like a dog, but viscous, and huge. It had black fur, sharp fangs, and claws that were glistening with something.

I jumped back from it, and I saw Nico pull a dagger of a black metal out of his jacket. I saw Josh backing up too.

The monster, as I decided to call it, looked at the three of us. I backed up a few more steps, but Nico just crouched slightly and held the dagger in front of him. I didn't know how he managed to get in here with that, but I was grateful that he had it.

The monster started moving slowly towards us. As soon as it got within a few feet of us, Nico lunged forward, putting a small cut across its face. The monster recoiled from him, but quickly started moving towards us again. Nico backed up a little closer to us.

"You can see that?" He asked me. He seemed confused, but I nodded at him.

"And you?" He said to Josh. Josh also nodded. "So?" I asked, "How could I not see a monster that's as big as a small car?!"

"One of you is the person I'm looking for." He said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked again.

"Now isn't the time. If you haven't noticed, we're in a bit of an issue here."

I didn't reply, because the monster lunged at Nico and slashed across his arm that was holding the dagger, and he dropped it, clutching his arm. The monster pinned him to the wall with one of its paws. He hit his head against the wall from the forceful shove into it, and his head lolled down onto his chest. He was unconscious.

I didn't know what to do, but I knew that he was about to be killed and eaten by whatever this thing was. I lunged forward and picked up the dagger from the ground. I slashed immediately at the monster's other front leg. It dropped Nico, who collapsed to the floor, so that was once problem solved, but then the monster turned to me snarling. I immediately started thinking of what to do.

The monster lunged at me, but I quickly shifted to the side and stabbed the black blade into the monster's side. It pulled back again, snarling and growling even louder at me.

I feigned a slash from one side, then quickly ducked under the monster's massive paw, and stabbed up into its stomach and clenched my eyes closed, waiting for the thing to drop and crush me.

I heard the monster howl and suddenly there was golden dust raining down on me from above. The weight never came. I opened my eyes to see dust everywhere around me, and all over me. I looked up and saw nothing.

I turned my head to see Josh in shock and Nico still unconscious against the wall.

I stood up and walked over to him, not bothering to brush off the dust.

"We need to get him out of here." I said, pointing at Nico.

Josh nodded and we each picked up arm after I put the knife back in his sheath inside his jacket. We lifted him up and carried him out the back door of the building out into an alley. If anyone saw us it probably looked like we had just mugged Nico, but there was nobody there. We sat him down against a wall and waited for him to wake up, since there was nothing else we could think of to do. We needed to talk to him, because he seemed to be the only person who knew what had happened and hadn't freaked out about it. He knew something, and I wanted to know what.

After a couple minutes, his eyes fluttered open and he looked around. "I'm not in the Underworld?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, getting a bit exasperated.

He seemed to just notice that we were still here. He looked me over, apparently seeing me covered in dust. "You killed the hell-hound?"

"Assuming that's what that monster is called, yes." He just nodded, then looked like he was thinking.  
"Can I ask you a few questions? I'll explain everything to you, depending on your answer." He then looked at Josh, "Can you please leave? At least go out of ear-shot? I'm sorry, but you can't hear what I'm going to talk about with Jared, at least not yet." He said.

Josh looked like he wanted to argue, but just nodded and walked down the alley until he was near the street.

Nico looked back at me. "Are you ADHD or dyslexic?"

"You're going to ask me about my disabilities? Really?"

"Just answer please." He said.

I sighed, then replied, "I'm ADHD, but I'm not dyslexic. If I was, doing that would've been a nightmare."

He nodded. "Have you grown up with only one parent your whole life, or never known one of your parents?"

I cringed a little at that, but Nico didn't look like he was trying to make fun. "Yeah. I grew up with only my mom. I never knew my dad."

"Have you ever had strange things happen to you? People following you, things you couldn't explain, or things changing seemingly over-night and everyone acts as if it was always like that?"

I nodded. "I've seen some people following me home before, and in 4th grade my teacher was gone one day and someone else was there. I asked why our teacher was gone, but everyone said she had been there the whole year."

"I think you're who I'm looking for Jared." Nico said, "And I'm sorry that this happened to you."

"Sorry what happened to me?"

"We shouldn't talk about it here. Do you need to go home?"

I thought about my mother, and her alcohol and anger at me. "No, I don't need to go home."

"Let's tell Josh to go home, I'm going to take you somewhere safe."

We'd sent Josh home, even though he wasn't happy about it. Nico told me that we needed to go somewhere dark and away from people, which sounded pretty shady, but I already trusted Nico. He didn't seem like the type of person to deceive someone.

We went to a park and went to where no one would be able to see us.

"Alright, well Jared, are you afraid of the dark?" He asked. I assumed he was kidding, but I looked at him, and he was completely serious.

"Umm, no, I don't mind the dark."

"How about going really fast, or strange noises?"

"Also no, I don't mind those."

"Ok, well, I can't really explain this beforehand, but just trust me. Do not let go of my wrist, hold your breath, and don't panic. Do not, let go. If you do, I won't be able to help you."

"Alright?" I said, almost as a question. He grabbed my wrist and I held onto his, tightly.

He took two steps into the shadows next to a tree, with me following, and we dissolved. I don't mean we disappeared, we dissolved into the shadows. I felt that we were moving extremely quickly, the lack of air around us, and heard noises. Talking, crying, yelling, screaming, pretty much every sound you could possibly think of. Above all, it was dark. Pitch black. You could see absolutely nothing.

This lasted for about five seconds, then we appeared on a hill. I collapsed to the ground, feeling nauseous.

"Sorry," he said, "it's rough on first-timers."

I regained my composure and asked "Where are we?"

"We're near Long Island Sound. This is a place called Camp Half Blood, and it's the only place for people like you, and judging by the fact that the boundary let you in, you do belong here."

"Wait, you said you, but you're here too. Why do you say I belong here?"

"It's… I had a falling out of sorts with the people here, so I stay out on my own. I'll stay here for tonight and explain everything in the morning, it's late and you must be tired from the hell-hound."

I wanted to protest, but I could feel my eyes drooping. Nico led me to a group of buildings, and took me into one that looked pretty plain. When we opened the door a few kids who were still awake looked over at us. They looked very similar, mischievous eyes, brown hair, it went on.

"Stolls." Nico said quietly. Two teenagers who were probably around 19 years old, but the same glint of mischief in their eyes as the younger ones. I immediately moved my hand to my prize from the competition.

"This is Jared, I just found him tonight, and he doesn't know his parent yet, and I doubt he'll be claimed this late. Can he stay here for the night?"

"Sure." They both answered simultaneously.

Nico nodded then looked at me. "Get some sleep. I'll be in my cabin. I'll explain everything tomorrow."

I nodded and laid down on the bed that the boys, who apparently went by the Stolls, gestured me to.

I closed my eyes and felt sleep coming over me. I wondered what was going on, but Nico had told me that he would explain everything to me tomorrow. I dozed off.

**That's it for this chapter! How is it so far? Do you like it? He finally reached Camp Half Blood and is going to meet the demigods! Please review and let me know what you think so far, and I hope you enjoyed. I hope to see you in the next one!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hey again everyone! Thank you to Quarter-blood99 for reviewing, and being the only one to consistently reviewing, the rest of you are slackers! This has been fun to write so far, and I hope you've been enjoying it alongside me. Please review and enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

Jared's POV

I woke up to the sun coming in the windows and tried to figure out where I was for a few seconds before I remembered I was in a camp of sorts, after the attack with Nico.  
I sat up in the bed that I had borrowed for the night and saw several boys, and some girls looking at me.

I immediately felt self-conscious. They all looked similar, with blonde hair of a sort, mischievous smiles when they were showing, and they all gave me the urge to hide anything of value I had.

I looked back at them for a few seconds, then most of them went back to what they were doing, making what seemed like pranks to use on each other, or getting dressed and ready.

The two boys that Nico had referred to as the Stolls came over to me. I was right in the dark that they looked about 19 years old. They both looked impish in a way, and I had a hand on my back pocket immediately

"Welcome to Camp Half Blood!" They both said simultaneously.

I hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Where exactly is this?"

"Long Island Sound," One said, "This is the one of two places that people can be safe for us."

"And what exactly are we?" I asked, still confused.  
"That," Said the other, "Is for Nico to explain, seeing how he was the one who found you and brought you here."

I nodded.

"Hopefully you'll be in your own cabin for your next night here, I'm not sure how you're as old as you are and haven't been claimed. Especially if you're powerful enough to kills a monster with no training."

I rose my eyebrows a little, "How did you know about that?"

"You're still covered in golden dust. Speaking of which, go take a shower."

I looked down and saw dust all over me still.

I nodded and went to take a shower.

When I got out, all that was left in the cabin was one of the twins. "Where is everyone?"

"While you were showering breakfast began. I have some fresh clothes for you, then we can go eat. You'll be with our cabin until you're claimed."

"How exactly are cabins decided? And what do you mean claimed?"

"We're divided into cabins by who our godly parent is, this is the Hermes cabin, so Hermes is all of our dads. He's also the god of travelers, so newcomers stay here until they are claimed. If you're wondering, Nico's dad is Hades, so he's alone in his cabin when he's here."

I felt bit bad for Nico then, that he had to be alone. "When he's here?"

"He's usually gone, traveling around and not staying anywhere, but I'm hungry, so go get dressed."

I walked into the bathroom with the clothes he had given me. The jeans fit pretty well, but the shirt was a little tight. I walked back out in the clothes and I saw the boy shake his head a little.

"What?"

"Just don't be surprised if some of the girls try to flirt with you. The tight shirt isn't going to help you get them to leave you alone, by the way."

"Umm, I've never had any girl take interest in me, I doubt anyone here will either."

"Whatever man, good luck, but let's go, I'm starving."

I followed him out of the cabin and towards a pavilion that was filled with tables and various groups of people. Everyone at the tables looked similar to each other, hair, eyes, mouths, all of them looked a little alike at least.

I followed the Stoll boy and sat down at his table with him.

I looked around and saw Nico sitting alone at a table without any food. I wasn't really feeling hungry either, but I never really was.

Everyone ate, and when they finished Nico came over to me and asked "Are you ready to hear what's going on?"

"Yeah, although this place doesn't seem that strange."

He smirked a little, but while we were walking out of the pavilion, I saw a centaur across the room. I rubbed my eyes but didn't look back. Apparently the lack of food was getting to me.

Nico led me to a beach by the Atlantic Ocean, and we sat down by the beach. There was no one there except us.

Nico sat quietly for a little while, staring out at the ocean for some reason.

"You like the sea?" I asked him.

He was silent for a few seconds. "Yeah, it reminds me of…" He stopped

"Of what?"

"Nothing, just people I lost and will never come back."

I was silent, not sure what he was talking about.

"Well, I'd better tell you what's going on then. The Greek gods, and found out as of late, the Roman gods, are still around. They control everything they used to, even if they aren't worshipped by any except demigods anymore."

Nico went on and on for hours, telling me about the gods, two wars that had just happened in the last several years, the Titan War and the Giant War. He kept telling me everything for hours, and about things that had happened, although he mentioned very few names.

"Did you know any of the people in those wars?"

"Do know, they're still around, and I was part of it. I fought in both wars."

It was then that I could see the sadness and torn emotions in Nico's eyes that were evident in any veteran you saw. I knew from looking and him and just felt that he had watched many friends die, ended the lives of others for his cause. I also knew that he was never accepted here. He was always alone, as one of the Stolls told me, and the fact that he was a son of Hades didn't help.

He finally stopped telling me. "And now you know just about everything there is to know about the world and the monsters in it. You'll learn more in training, but that's all the basics and general history of what has been happening."

My head was spinning from all the information that had just been given to me.

Nico stood up and offered his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

"Come on, it's almost dinner time."

I hadn't realized that we'd talked all day, clear through lunch.

"Maybe you'll be claimed at dinner, or at the campfire tonight."

I nodded, but I didn't know who my parent was. I didn't look like the Hermes kids, I wasn't as big as the Hephaestus kids, I was terrible at archery, I'd found out in an adventurous gym day at school, I had no attachment to romance or the idea of love, I wasn't particularly fond of the ocean, although I liked it well enough, I didn't ever aspire to drink or create wine, in fact I hated alcohol because of my mother… I had no idea who my parent was.

We walked to the pavilion where everyone was gathering for dinner. I got a small plate of food, probably only a few swallows, but I wasn't hungry, and went to sit at the Hermes table again.

The centaur showed up again. I rubbed my eyes to see if it was real, but it was, and it walked up to the center of the dining pavilion. It hit its hoof down on the stones to make a loud sound and everyone went silent.

"Welcome to dinner for the evening, and I hope everything is as pleasurable as it usually is." Everyone stayed silent for a few seconds. "The real reason for this announcement is to welcome a new camper. Last night, Nico DiAngelo brought a young man named Jared to camp. Will you please stand, and come up here Jared?"

I was still under the assumption that I was hallucinating, but I did as he asked me. I walked to him and stood beside him.

"I assume that Nico will keep showing him around the camp and how everything works until he is claimed?" He said looking at Nico.

Nico just nodded in reply, and Chiron stared again. "I expect everyone to act polite, and keep teasing to a minimum while he is learning the ways of camp. I hope that-" Then he stopped when there was a collective gasp from the crowd of kids around me.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I looked down and saw I was wearing different clothes. I had on black jeans with a chain on the side, black and grey skate shoes, and a black Aeropostale shirt. I wasn't wearing my hat, but from what I could see of my hair, the red was more pronounced and the black was darker. I then looked up and saw a symbol before it faded. It was a sword made of the same metal as the dagger I'd used from Nico, and a black helm.

I looked at everyone and saw the ones who still had control of themselves look at me and shut their mouths as Chiron said "Well, it appears the claiming has happened now. Jared, the son of Hades, the lord of the Underworld, riches, and wealth.

**So how was it? I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you liked reading it! Please review and let me know what you think of it so far! I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello again everybody! I've been enjoying writing this story so far, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it so far! I don't have much to say at the moment, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter 6**

Jared's POV

I slept in the Hades Cabin that night with Nico. There were only two beds in the building, but Nico said something about having more made for it sometime, because until me, the only person to use the second bed was his half-sister from the Roman Camp when she visited. I'd already had the Romans explained to me, so I didn't ask.

The cabin was dark, with no windows and only green torches burning on the walls for light. I had all of my stuff in that cabin now, and the bed that was mine.

It was an odd feeling, but even though it was such a dark depressing building, I couldn't help but feeling as if this was where I fit in. With my black and grey clothes, black hair, and the red streak, I fit in perfectly with everything else.

I looked around the cabin. I saw Nico laying in his bed, but he wasn't asleep, and I figured he rarely did. He saw me looking around. "You're up." He said simply.

"Yeah." I replied, not sure what else to say.

We sat in our beds in silence for a few seconds before I got up. I went to take a shower and change. I didn't have any clothes, so I would have to wear the same clothes as yesterday, but a girl named Piper had told me that she would be able to find me some soon. Nico told me she was one of the Seven of the last Great Prophecy during the Giant War and was a daughter of Aphrodite. She didn't seem shallow like I expected children of Aphrodite to be, but I also saw some of her siblings, and assumed she was the exception, not the rule.

I came back out after my shower, wearing my hat today because something needed to be different. I wore it a bit up, unlike most people did, so it was leaned back on my head and my hair was coming out from under it and the black and red was visible.

I saw Nico leaning against a wall, apparently ready to leave the cabin already.

"Alright," he said when I came out, "today you're going to see the camp and the activities that you'll be doing regularly. I'll show you around to where you'll be doing things, like the Arena, the stables, archery range, and the rest."

"So when are we starting?" I asked.

"After breakfast, which should be happening about… Now." He said as the horn sounded, apparently signaling breakfast.

We left the cabin and went to the pavilion with the rest of the campers. We each got a small amount of food then went to sit down at our table. It was odd to have a brother of sorts, being an only child, but it was nice having someone else by me who was actually like me.

We ate in silence, and I started thinking about random things that came to my mind. I thought about camp, Josh, my mother, and my rap. The last one was going to be a bit of trouble now, because apparently I was going to be here for a long time. My mother wouldn't be an issue, she would never find me here, so I didn't have to worry about that, and Josh would learn soon about what was going on.

I finished eating and started looking around the pavilion. I saw the table I'd eaten at yesterday, filled with children of Hermes. There was an empty table, a table at the front of the pavilion where the man who was a centaur before was sitting in a wheelchair, eating his breakfast. I didn't bother wondering about that. There was a table of kids with grey eyes, one with big kids that were ripped with muscles and loud, another of kids, a few of which had instruments, and many more tables filled with kids. Then I saw a table with a single girl sitting there, eating alone. She had her back to me, but I figured she was a little taller than average, had raven black hair, and tan skin.

"Who is that?" I asked Nico, pointing to her, "How come she's alone?"

"That, is the one and only daughter of Poseidon, and she's sitting alone much for the same reason that I was until today. Until recently, the "Big Three" so to speak, had an oath to have no children, so we're technically the results of breaking that oath, although it isn't common. She is one of two children of Poseidon who are currently alive, and the other isn't at camp, and hasn't been for quite some time."

"Who is it?" I asked, curious about the other child of Poseidon.

"The other child is a boy, nearly 20 years old, and he's gone to the city, living alone in an apartment. He lost a lot of friends in the war, and he's been trying to come to grips with it for years. I visit occasionally, trying to help, but he's been in this state of depression for a long time now, and it doesn't seem like he'll come out any time soon."

"He's so depressed because he lost some friends in a war? Doesn't everybody though? Is he just weaker than everyone else?"

"He's not weaker, it's who he lost. The death that holds Percy Jackson down, that he holds the guilt for and won't let go of, is the death of his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase."

**So… I'll just hope nobody has anything near them to throw at me. How was it? Good? I wanted to go a little farther, but this seemed a good place to end it. Next chapter, Jared will start meeting other demigods, and the interesting things will finally start to happen! Please review and let me know what you think, and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hey everyone. Sorry for not updating anything all day, I kind of had a random bout of depression and I didn't feel like writing anything, so I spend most of the day hanging out with my friends. I'll try to make up for it today, so I hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter 7**

Jared's POV

I sat in silence. "He takes the blame for his girlfriend dying?"

Nico shook his head slightly, "They were more than that. They met each other when they were 12 years old, and they've been through a lot together. Percy and Annabeth have recovered Zeus's master bolt, gone through the Sea of Monsters to recover the Golden Fleece to save the camp, navigated Daedalus' Labyrinth, fought the Titans to save the world, and lastly, crossed the world to fight Gaia, during which they survived going through Tartarus together. They'd been through much more than just a couple, they were closer than that. During the final battle against Gaia, Percy and Annabeth were fighting as a pair, split off from the rest of us. They were completely surrounded, fighting off the army of monsters trying to kill them. During the fight, Annabeth took an arrow in the stomach, and it went pretty deep, and Percy couldn't do anything to help her except protect her. He was enraged, killing everything around him and causing a hurricane from nothing but the moisture in the air around him. When the battle finally ended, it was too late, the only thing he could do was hold Annabeth in his arms as she died."

I sat in silence. I couldn't reply to that, there were no words that could possibly convey what they had gone through.

"Does Percy Jackson ever come back?"

Nico stayed silent for a few seconds, "Rarely. Whenever he comes back he just stays silent and away from everybody. He talks to the Seven some, but mostly the only person he talks to is his sister."

I stayed silent again. I knew what pain felt like, physically and emotionally, from my childhood, but I didn't know if I could think of what it was like for Percy.

The horn sounded and I realized it was time for everyone to go to their activities, but I wasn't sure what to do. Everyone grouped up with their friends to go to their training, but I just stayed by Nico. After being claimed as a son of Hades, people had started giving me a bit of space when they were around me, and I figured it would be just like normal again. Just me and one friend. Judging from how Nico acted while here, he didn't have any friends either. People must be nervous because of the Lord of the Dead, which is understandable.

I followed Nico to Ancient Greek, and found that it was just us, children of Nemesis, and the daughter of Poseidon, who I noticed when she walked in, had the same sea-green eyes that Percy was said to have.

The boy who was teaching us had blonde hair and grey eyes. From what Nico had told me, I assumed he was a son of Athena. He seemed very intelligent as he talked, but I was sitting a little ways away from everyone else. I knew they didn't want to be around me, so I may as well make easier on them and just avoid other.

The lecture went a bit slowly, even though it was interesting at points, but I couldn't wait to get to something else. Nico had said that there were other things that I found much more interesting.

We went to the arena next, and Nico said that I would need to find a sword of my own at some point. He had one of the black metal of the dagger in a sheath at his side. He led me to some weapons that I lifted experimentally, but none of the bronze swords felt right.

"If you're interested, it is possible that we can find another stygian iron sword that would suit you better. They aren't exactly common, but there are some."

I didn't know what I would like, so I just nodded. For now I picked up the best bronze sword I could find, and Nico led me off to an edge of the arena where we would be out of the way of everyone else. He showed me some basic moves; slashing, stabbing, parrying, disarming, and I did a fair job at all of it.

"You're a fast learner." Nico said, as he fought me. I could tell he was going extremely easy on me, but it was my first time holding a sword.

We kept at the sparring for a while and I hardly realized that time was passing as my ADHD started kicking in and I started to try to anticipate what Nico would do and started planning my attacks ahead of time. We started fighting harder and harder until I was moving at what I assumed was a fast pace through the fight. Apparently Nico decided to end my small ego boost by disarming me in two moves that took less than a second.

"You're doing quite well for your first time, and I want to see something." Nico said.

I didn't like where this seemed to be going.

"Kierra!" Nico yelled across the arena, "Can you come over here?"

I waited until I saw the daughter of Poseidon- Kierra apparently –coming over to the edge of the arena we were at.

"I'm sure you know who this is Kierra, so Jared, meet Kierra." He said.

I nodded to her, and she just looked back at me blankly.

"Would you spar with Jared?" Nico said, and I immediately looked at him.

"I can't fighter her!" I exclaimed.

"Why not?" Nico said, and I saw Kierra smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"I have no training and she probably has several years, I'll lose in seconds."

"Well, then I wish you good luck. Try not to get killed. Kierra, don't go easy on him."

She smiled and nodded at Nico, then looked to me. I brushed the hair out of my eyes and drew my sword as she did the same.

"Good luck to the both of you." Nico said, stepping back to watch me be annihilated.

Immediately, Kierra lunged and I stepped back, desperately dodging the blade. She kept slashing and stabbing, completely offensive as I dodged, parried and generally tried not to die as I tried to formulate a plan to at least fight back. I imagine Nico has a small smile as I get beat down, but I couldn't spare the time to look.

I finally though of a plan. The next time she lunged to stab at me, I stepped to the side, grabbing her wrist and moved in holding my blade to her neck. She froze. I looked over to Nico to see if this meant I won then felt a hard hit to my stomach and my sword knocked out of my hand as a was shoved sprawling to the ground.

I spit dust out of my mouth and looked up to see her offering her hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. "Don't look away until your opponent surrenders." She said with a small smirk of amusement. "Would've been nice to know beforehand." I said, looking at my feet with a bit of shame that that was why I lost.

I heard a small exhale from her, and I couldn't tell if she was irritated or slightly amused.

I looked up and smiled a little to show I was kidding. She walked back to wherever she was before and I looked at Nico. He was just staring at me. "What?"

He stayed silent for a few seconds, "Nothing, just watching you."

"Why?"

He smirked the tiniest bit. "Because I know that look in your eye, because I saw it in Percy's all the time."

**How was it? I liked writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please review and tell me what you think of it. I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello again everybody! Quick note, I'm working a little on my next story and it will be published once I finish The Return, and I'm really excited to see your feedback. Onto the story! Please review and I hope you enjoy!**

**Music: Mac Miller's Best Day Ever**

**Chapter 8**

Jared's POV

Days went by with Nico showing me around the camp and every facility and activity. I asked him once when he was planning on leaving, but he said he wasn't sure.

Maybe, just maybe, he would stay now that he had a brother.

Nothing of importance really happened, but one day that had been especially boring (Boring at a demigod camp? Impossible) I found a pen and paper and began to work on raps again. I knew people would say it was unnecessary now, but music was one of the few things that made me happy, and I would very likely have a contract to consider once I went back into the mortal world.

I listened to my music, Nico warned me that it was against the rules for electronics so I hid the iPod during the day, and wrote my music down. I occasionally found empty hours of the day that I could go to the woods to practice my lines and see how they sounded, to an imaginary beat I had in my head.

One day I was listening to music and I heard Best Day Ever by Mac Miller come on and I paused work to listen to it.

_No matter where life takes me, find me with a smile_

_Pursuit to be happy, only laughin' like a child_

_Never thought that life could be this sweet_

_It got me cheesin' from cheek to cheek yeah, yeah_

_And I ain't gonna wait for nothin', cause that just ain't my style_

_Life couldn't get better, this gon' be the best day ever_

I smiled, listening to this song, and found it oddly appropriate. It certainly did fit me right now. Life was taking me places I didn't even know were real until a few days ago, and I had loved it.

I kept writing my music and wondering what I would do when I left camp. I had decided to stay here for the summer then go back to school for my senior year. After that, I would be able to do whatever I wanted to, which would be difficult. I would have to wait and see what became of my career in music, or whether it actually became a career.

I put down the pen, deciding I'd done enough for a day and walked outside and right into Kierra, knocking us both over and I nearly landed on her. That would've been really cliché and dramatic, wouldn't it. I quickly stood up then gave her my hand to pull herself up. She was a bit irritated, but that was understandable at the moment.

"Umm, what are you doing?" I asked her awkwardly.

"Nico sent me to come get you for dinner. People have been eating for ten minutes and he didn't know where you were, so he sent me to check for you here."

I brushed off my jeans quickly, then started fidgeting with the hair on the back of my head, not making eye contact.

"Well," She said, giving a very light tap on my chin to get me to look up from the ground, "Get going before people start getting ideas." Then she turned around and went to go, and I watched her go, smiling lightly. "Yeah, wouldn't want those kinds of rumors going around."

Dinner had been relatively boring, as usual. I had gotten used to Chiron, and nothing extraordinary really happened. I ate with Nico in the silence that we usually had. Sometimes I wished he would talk more, but most of the time I didn't mind, silence suited me. I had time to think about anything or figure out problems. At the moment I was thinking about my songs, eyes drifting around randomly as I thought.

Eventually interrupted and said "You know, you aren't exactly subtle."

I was confused, "What?"

Nico smirked at me, "If you keep looking at her for that long and that often, everyone in the camp is going to see."

I thought about it for a few seconds then realized that I had looked at Kierra quite often.

"I was just thinking about my music, I wasn't trying to stare at her." I said a bit defensively.

"Yeah, sure you were. I believe you completely." He said, each syllable dripping with sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes and stood up to leave. I turned around just in time to run into Kierra and knock her over again, except this time I fell on top of her.

My face immediately flushed and everyone went silent. I stood up as quickly as I could. Kierra's face was also red, and she was mad.

She gestured to me to follow her and I knew I was screwed. I imagine my face matched my hair. I walked after her, keeping my eyes down. As soon as I was out of the pavilion I heard everyone laughing.

Kierra was leaning against a tree, waiting for me. "Are you trying to make me kill you?" She said.

I rose my hands, "I swear I'm not trying to keep knocking you over."

She huffed a small breath out and rolled her eyes at me, then turned around and walked to her cabin. I watched her go.

I smiled softly, realizing that Nico was probably right. I could guess the look that I had in my eyes at that moment, and realized that no matter how much she probably hated me or how stupid it would sound to anyone, I had fallen for a girl I only knew for a few days.

**Well, how was it? It was fun to write this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed! Please review and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello everybody *awkwardly attempts a friendly smile*. I know I'm breaking my usual cycle of updating all of my stories, but I had an idea for this story that I really want to reach, so I decided to work on this one. I'll probably have time to do a one-shot later, but no promises.**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoy and please review!**

**Music: I Wish by Sammy Adams**

**Chapter 9!**

Jared's POV

I don't want to brag, but the next couple days went really well with Kierra. If you want to know how I did it, I did the obvious thing when I realized I liked her: I avoided her and said absolutely nothing to make sure she would forget I exist. So in other words, she hadn't said anything to me or me to her for days.

I didn't want to be like this, but I was too nervous to even talk to her. Whenever I saw her black hair, noticed what seemed to be a sea breeze around her, or looked into her green eyes, I got nervous and couldn't talk. It sucked but I couldn't do anything about it, so I put my emotion into my music, with no other option.

Nico had told me that he was going to teach me how to shadow travel, since I was a son of Hades and I was apparently a potentially powerful one. He'd taken me to New York through shadow travel, letting me see again what it was like now that I wasn't so confused, and it hadn't been so bad this time. While we were there, Nico had allowed me to go see Josh and see how he was.

He was ecstatic to see me and that I was alright, even though I told him I still couldn't tell him what was going on. I'd asked if anything had happened while I was gone.

"Well, when you left I put up the video of your performance the next day, and you've actually gotten hundreds of thousands of views already, so you've got a bit of money waiting for you from it. Also, I was just recently called by the man who ran that competition, and he decided that he's going to offer you a contract when you're a legal adult. Last, you were asked if you would open for a concert. I told them I would talk to you about it before I gave your answer, it happens next Saturday."

"Well, apparently a lot has happened, and if Nico can help me come, I'll do it. Was there any kind of offer for it?"

"$5,000 if you open."

My eyes got wide as I thought about how much that actually was.

"I'll do it. Whenever you can contact them again, let them know I agree."

He nodded.

"Well, I'm just here because Nico was teaching me something that I'll explain sometime when I understand it myself, so I should leave now."

He smiled a bit shook my hand and said, "I told you you would go places. Who's right now?"

I rolled my eyes at him, but he persisted, "Who's right?"

"You're right."

"That's what I thought. I'll see you at the event Saturday then, because as of now, I am your temporary agent."

"I didn't think my career could crumble so quickly." I said, laughing at him.

He laughed to and led me to the door. "I'll see you around."

Nico explained how to shadow travel when I got back, and it honestly didn't sound very complicated. He told me that I would be taking us back to camp.

I bit my lip, not sure if I could do it yet.

We walked into the shadows and Nico grabbed onto my wrist. I closed my eyes and focused on where I wanted to go. Camp Half Blood. I focused on a specific spot near the pavilion where I wanted to appear, then. We melted into shadows. I kept focusing on the point as Nico told me so we wouldn't get lost in the shadows.

Finally, we appeared and I immediately felt the bite of cold against my skin. I opened my eyes and saw some snow and felt wind. This wasn't Camp Half Blood.

Nico looked around and laughed at me a bit. "Not bad." He said.

"What do you mean not bad?" I said, disappointed and worried that we were lost.

"We're in Canada." He said simply.

I looked down at my feet, angry at myself for not being able to do it, even though I was catching my breath.

"Don't worry about it, the first time I tried shadow traveling I ended up in China."

I stared at him.

"Canada doesn't seem so bad now does it?"

I shook my head.

He took my wrist but I quickly said, "No, I want to try one more time."

He looked at me, "You sure? Shadow traveling is tiring."

"Yeah, I can manage." I said, finally getting my breath back.

"Alright, just try not to put us in the ocean."

I gripped his wrist and closed my eyes again, focusing on the same spot I had before. I focused and thought about camp.

Then I felt us melt into shadows and start traveling. I focused intensely on camp.

After a few seconds, I felt us materialize and fall. I opened my eyes to see we weren't on the ground, about 5 to 10 feet up, and we fell to the ground.

As soon as we landed, Nico crouched absorbing the impact with his legs, but I wasn't so lucky. I landed on near-straight legs and fell forwards. Then, of course, I knocked down Kierra.

As soon as we were on the ground I immediately stood up, face flushing. "Gods, I'm so sorry." I offered my hand but she just stood up without help.

"Hey, wait!" I said, walking after her as she tried to leave.

"What?!" She near-yelled back at me.

"I've done this three times, at least let me try to make it up to you."

"And how will you do that?" She asked, still mad and her face slightly red.

"Well, I was invited to a concert Saturday, so if you'd like to go to that, you can, I want to do something to make it up, seeing how I've messed up so much."

She exhaled, exasperated. "Fine, I'll go."

I nodded, smiling slightly as she walked away.

I looked back over at Nico. "You're hopeless." He said.

"What?"

He just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

The rest of the week went without incident. Nico kept teaching me every day how to shadow travel, and we only had two more accidental trips, one to Japan, another to Bolivia. Other than those, I was getting the hang of shadow traveling.

I was nervous about Saturday, and I didn't have enough time to prepare a song for it, so I decided I would sing another artist's and say so before-hand.

I kept working on my own music as the week went by, and kept training. I was getting better with a sword even though I was still using a bronze one that felt wrong in my hands.

Saturday finally came around and I skipped out on training so I could practice and get ready for tonight. I stayed in my cabin, and Nico vanished to go do whatever it was Nico did.

I went over the lines to the song I had picked over and over to an imaginary beat going on in my mind as I waited for the day to pass. The time finally came and I decided it was time to get ready. I'd told Kierra when it was so she would be ready before, so I didn't worry about that.

I went to find my clothes and changed. I picked the clothes that had appeared when I was claimed. Black jeans with a chain, the shirt, my black skate shoes, black jacket, along with my flat-brim hat that I wore at the competition. I swiped my hair to the side so I wouldn't have red and black in my eyes.

I walked out and looked around. I hadn't eaten all day, and it was dinner time, but I was planning on eating after the concert. I wasn't sure what Kierra would think of it, but I needed to eat sometime, I just hoped she wouldn't get mad when she found out.

I walked over to the Poseidon cabin, knocked on the door, and waited.

She opened the door, looked at me, and said "You're overdressed."

I just gave her a small smirk, "Not for no reason."

"What?"

"You'll see."

She looked like she wanted to argue but I just gestured for her to follow me and started walking. I heard her stomp the ground behind me and start following. We reached the woods where it was dark enough to shadow travel.

I stopped in a shadow and turned around.

"Well, you ready?" I asked her.

"For what? We're standing at the edge of the woods."

"Well, seeing how I don't have a car, like everyone at camp, the only way to get there is shadow travel."

She looked confused.

"Just hold your breath, try not to feel sick, and do not let go." I said as I offered my hand.

She just looked at my hand.

I rolled my eyes, "Really? This is the only way it'll work for you to go through with me, that's why, I'm not just some guy who uses lame excuses to hold hands."

She still seemed skeptical, but she took my hand, and there's no point in lying, so I'll just say I felt something in my chest when she did.

I closed my eyes and focused on where I needed to go. I thought about it hard, and suddenly felt us dissolve into shadows. Her grip on my hand immediately tightened severely, so much that it hurt a bit.

We materialized next to one of the side entrances where nobody was.

I looked at her, and saw her skin was pale and her eyes wide.

"Deep breaths, it's like this for all first-timers." I said as I pulled out a small bottle of Tums out of my pocket that I'd learned were a good thing to have for the rough trips through shadows.

She took the bottle and ate a few of the tablets, straightening up.

I put the bottle back into the pocket on my jacket and waited for her.

"You good?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm ok." She answered, getting her breathing back to normal.

I pushed the door open and held it, allowing her to go in first. I followed her into the building to see the crowd of people for an audience. This was much more than I was expecting.

I led Kierra down into the audience at the very front, before taking a few steps back towards where we came from when she said "Where are you going?"

I turned around, "You'll see. I'll be back soon." Then I walked up the stairs and disappeared from view from everyone.

Kierra's POV

I stood down at the front of the audience, looking around. I wasn't really sure what to do. I'd come because Jared had offered because he'd knocked me over three times now, and this was his way of attempting to make it up. I wasn't sure how he thought this would change my opinion of him, but I couldn't tell if he was just clumsy or really, really unlucky.

The lights started to go dark with nothing but the stage lights on and Jared still wasn't back yet.

That idiot is going to miss the beginning, I thought to myself.

The lights went completely dark and everyone was mostly silent. The curtain that was set up drew back and I saw…. Jared?

Jared was standing in the middle of the stage, and I could see the mic set up on him.

"How is everyone tonight?" He asked the audience, receiving a small applause.

"I'm sorry to say that this was short notice for me, so I didn't have time to prepare anything myself." Didn't have time to prepare what? Was he giving a speech? "So I'll be performing I Wish by Sammy Adams."

I sat speechless. Jared was performing? What, had he invited me to a talent show and he thought he could impress me?

The music started playing and he began.

_My best friends call me Wiz, my cougars call me kid_

_And even though these haters talkin', I ain't hearing it_

_Ya girl call me all the time, women call me fine_

_And my birthday fell in August, so my auntie call me Lion_

_Major (Major) call me young, pops call me son_

_Music is my lungs, so the best is yet to come_

_Benny call me Sammy_

_LA call me Grammy's_

_Mikey call me Wizzy_

_Ya from Boston call me family_

_Critics call me inspiration_

_My lawyer call me patient_

_Agent call me superstar_

_Accountant call me kickin'_

_Nikki call me Tio_

_Cousins call me Leo_

_Always entertaining every single person we know_

_Cause I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_Cause I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_Said I was one of the greatest_

_We ain't even make it_

_H call me animal_

_And fans call me famous_

_My liver call me faded_

_Foes call me the fakest_

_And I don't ever answer_

_Cause I'm out here getting' it_

_Team Call me boss_

_When we out on the road_

_You gotta live and experience_

_Everything you know_

_Youth call me leader, overachiever_

_All day dreamer, please stay I need ya_

_Ex call me liar, her best friends call me fire_

_Can't help but admire, though I the next in line_

_Al call me Bubba_

_My mother call me stubborn_

_Keith call me brother_

_And girls call me lover_

_But I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_Cause I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_Cause I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_Cause I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

_I wish, I wish, I wish I was_

He ended the song and there was a huge amount of applause. He gave a bow and a big smile to the crowd. I was pretty sure I heard a few girls scream at that.

He walked off the side of the stage and it took several minutes for the applause to stop, then he reappeared beside me.

I stared at him.

"What, didn't I tell you I was opening for this?" He said with a smile.

I punched him in the arm, "No, you left that little detail out."

He rubbed his arm, but he was still smiling.

We stood and watched the rest of the concert, which to be honest wasn't as good as Jared's song he opened with.

After it ended, we walked backstage and Jared collected his payment in cash, which looked like a very large amount in bills. The man said something to him about possibly repeating, and that he would pay Jared in cash until he was a legal adult, and Jared agreed.

We walked out into the street and Jared looked over at me smiling and asked in a terrible British accent, "And where would the lovely lady like to eat?"

I felt my face flush a bit. "I don't expect you to take me to eat, this isn't a date or anything."

I could have sworn I saw his smile falter just the slightest. "I know, but I just got paid, I haven't eaten all day, and you missed dinner getting ready. Pick somewhere."

I thought for a few seconds before saying, "Something Italian?"

"Sure." He replied. He offered his hand again, but I said "Why don't we just walk?"

Once again, I thought I saw his smile falter. "Well, first of all, it's across the city, second, I want it to be a surprise."

I rolled my eyes at him but took his hand. He closed his eyes. And we melted into the shadows.

We materialized a small distance away from a small restaurant that I'd never heard of.

"What is this?"

"It's a small family owned restaurant. I've eaten here a few times with my only- with my friend Josh."

"Only?" His smile immediately vanished.

"Yeah, I don't really have any friends except for Josh and Nico."

I didn't say anything. How could he have no friends? He could sing/rap, whatever you want to call it, he was kind, funny, polite, clumsy in kind of a cute way… No, that's no right…

"Well, let's go. I'm starving." He tried to smile, but I could tell it was forced now.

We sat down in a booth in the restaurant and ordered from the waiter. I asked for some spaghetti and he asked for fettuccini alfredo. I asked him how come, and he replied, "Well, it's pretty much just macaroni and cheese for adults, so why not."

I laughed a little even though it was a cheesy joke (no pun intended).

We ate and talked about random things, although I noticed he didn't talk about his personal life very much, only about a friend named Josh and how he pushed him into music.

We finished eating and stood up. Jared walked over to the owner at the register and paid for our meals. After he paid though, I saw him hand what looked like a $100 bill to the owner and mutter a few words to him that I couldn't understand. The owner gave a huge smile and thanked Jared, then we walked out of the restaurant.

We walked out of the light and Jared offered his hand again even though he looked really tired by now. I figured shadow travel must be really taxing for someone. I took his hand, he closed his eyes and we vanished.

We materialized in camp in the shadow of my cabin and we walked around front to the door. Everyone else in camp was already in their cabins, so it was quiet. Jared opened my door for me and I stood in the doorway.

"Thanks for dinner, and for taking me to see that concert." I said.

"No problem," He said, "It was the least I could do after half-tackling you three times."

He was still smiling, although it was genuine again now.

"Well then, I bid you goodnight dear lady." He said, once again in his awful accent.

What I wasn't expecting was that he took my hand, and in a deep bow, he kissed my hand.

He stood back up smiling, so I figured it was more of a joke, but it felt like my heart had skipped a beat when he did.

"Goodnight." I said to him before closing the door and going into my cabin.

Jared's POV

I walked back to my cabin in a daze. I couldn't believe I had just kissed her hand and not gotten slapped. It wasn't meant to be something serious, more of a joke than anything because I felt that we were friends now, but it had felt like something.

I went into my cabin and laid down without even changing out of my clothes. I thought about the night and smiled as I fell asleep.

**I really wanted this to happen, so I decided to treat you guys to a long chapter compared to my others. I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please review, and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus.**

**Well… Hello again. I know it's been a long time since an update on any of my stories, and I'm sorry, but I've been swamped with homework lately and honestly, I've lacked any kind of motivation to write. I hope I'll have time for this again now, because this and my other main story have both gotten to a point where it's really close to something I've wanted to write since I've started the story, and I'm torn on what to do with my The Return. Now, I fit the writer stereotype pretty well, I'm sitting in a diner, eating and writing. Sorry again, and I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 10!**

Jared's POV

Camp seemed to gain something after that night. I was enjoying myself more now. Even though Nico was my friend, and I did love him in the way that brothers do after all he did for me, it had been lonely and depressing here. After the concert, Kierra had actually started talking to me. She also hadn't told anyone about it, so I wasn't getting harassed about it.

We joked around, talked about everything, but we still weren't close enough to talk about anything personal. I didn't tell her about my mom and she didn't say anything about her family.

We spent a lot of time in training together, and Nico picked up on the fact that he now didn't have to babysit me all day because Kierra knew where everything was. She taught me better ways to fight, helped me in Greek, and just acted like a good friend.

I've made more progress on my music, and I couldn't wait to actually be able to go places with it. I was already making plans for what I could do when I got the chance to make a deal and get enough money to live on my own. I hoped to buy a house or rent a hotel room or apartment in New York, since I had grown up here. I would be able to work there, spend time in solitude thinking about anything, and have the money to be able to relax and not have to worry about where I would get my next meal from. It would finally be easy for me.

I was currently in my cabin, working on writing a song when my door suddenly opened. Kierra walked into my cabin and looked over at me, sitting at the desk where I had several pens laying around, some paper scattered across the surface, and my iPod, which I always listened to while I wrote to give me inspiration.

"Are you working on something?"

I finished the line before I replied, "Does it look like it?"

"Well it looks like you're composing, so no, I guess you're not working."

I looked up at her and gave the glare I was learning from Nico.

"Alright fine, you're working. Can I see it?"

"No, I don't want anyone to know about it until I perform it."

"Why not?"

"Because this is the song I want to be the first to perform on stage when I can book a real concert."

"Aww, come on, please?" She said sarcastically, giving dramatic puppy eyes.

I made sure not to look up, I'd learned a few days ago that I wouldn't be able to look at her eyes without telling her whatever she wanted to know. "No, it's a surprise. You can help me work on my next song."

"Fine." She said, rolling her eyes at me.

I finished what I was working on and looked over to her.

"So what do you want?"

"Nothing, I was just bored so I came to see you."

"Why because I'm just so hilarious?" I asked, leaning back in my chair and throwing my arms in the air dramatically.

She rolled her eyes again, "Sure."

I smirked at her.

"So… What are you wanting?"

"I don't know, I was just bored."

"How come you didn't go talk to any of your other friends? I'm not that fun to talk to, and I don't really know what to talk about."

"Because I don't like most of the people at camp, and I can't go near any of the older campers without hearing them talk about my older brother."

"I haven't really heard much about him, what's he like?"

She stayed silent for a few seconds, "Broken. He told me some of what he's gone through, and it would be enough to damage anyone beyond repair."

I stayed silent. I didn't really have anything I could say.

"So when is your next show?" She said.

I smiled, "I haven't booked anything yet, it takes time and I don't have any songs completely ready yet. Why, are you excited or something?"

"No, of course not, I'm just curious."

"Sure you are."

"I'm not!"

I just smiled. "So what should we do? Because you obviously aren't going to leave me alone to write."

"Umm, I don't know. I don't plan things, I just kind of do things and it usually goes pretty well."

I shook my head, still smiling.

"We could go swimming?" She suggested.

"Sure, I guess, but I'm not racing, that's too unfair."

"Fine, we won't race."

"I guess I'll change and meet you at the lake?"

"Sure." She said, then walked out of the cabin to go to her own.

Kierra's POV

I left Jared alone in his cabin to go change into a swimsuit, even though it wasn't necessary for me. I walked into my cabin and started picking something to wear.

After looking for a couple minutes, I decided to wear a turquoise swimsuit.

I put on a sweater to wear to the lake until I got there. I pulled it on over my head and walked outside and went to the lake. It was just getting to sunset and the colors would look beautiful on the water. I loved the look of the water at this time of day, and I went often.

I finally reached the edge of the lake, and saw Jared lying on the beach in a black and grey swimsuit. He was on his stomach and had his face turned away from me, so he didn't see me coming.

I walked towards him and he must've heard my footprints, because he rolled onto his back, sat up and looked over at me.

I didn't realize, but this was the first time I'd ever been swimming with Jared. I looked at him to see that the color of his skin that I usually only saw on his hands and occasionally his forearms carried across his whole chest, stomach, and legs. He had a well-defined six-pack, and his arms had muscles, but not so much that they were bulging out from him. The slight breeze was also causing his black and red hair to be swept over his eyes, and he had to keep wiping it out of his face.

I made sure I didn't look at him for too long, or it would be weird, so I focused back on his face.

"You beat me."

"It isn't hard when it takes you ten minutes to pick what you're going to wear."

"Hey, I look fabulous. That's reason enough."

He rolled his eyes, but I saw a small smile hinting at the corners of his mouth.

"So are we going to swim now?"

"I figured that was the point." He replied, standing up and brushing the sand off.

I pulled the sweater off and set it on the beach, then looked back at Jared. He was looking back at me, but I was surprised that he kept his eyes focused on mine. They never dropped or moved, he just looked into my eyes.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and jumped into the water.

Jared's POV

The water splashed when she jumped into the lake. I stood there, thinking for a few moments. When she took off the sweater she had looked at me, as if expecting something, but I just looked at her face. Her eyes were enough for me, and I had too much respect for her to think of anything else.

After a few seconds, I jumped into the water after her. I knew she would probably stay under for a long time, watching me and enjoying being able to do so.

I swam around a bit, not sure what else to do, then she surfaced next to me.

"So, what should we do?" I asked her.

"I don't know, what can we do in the water?"

"Well, we can adventure through the water?"

"What is there to adventure through in the water? It's water, nothing's out here."

She smirked, then submerged again.

I waited, not sure what she was doing. Then, the water I was treading on seemed to vanish from under me. I would've made a noise, but I was under the water for about a second, then I was in the air again before landing on some wet sand.

I coughed, then looked up to see that I was in an air bubble with Kierra.

"See? There's stuff to see in a lake."

"Alright, you win. So what are we going to do?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped. Her face flushed a bit, and her smile faded mostly.

I felt concern etched into my features. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok."

I kept looking at her, still confused.

"Just something Percy did once. Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime."

I wanted to know what it was, but I figured I wouldn't be able to get her to tell me.

"Ok, if you ever feel like telling me something, just let me know."

We walked around in the air bubble on the floor of the lake for a while, but Kierra's face was flushed for some reason. We eventually gave up and walked back to the shore.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go to bed." Kierra said.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

She walked to her cabin, and I to mine. I went to my desk and worked on my music some more, thinking about the day.

What had Percy done that had made Kierra so uncomfortable around me?

**So how was it? I'm sorry this took so long, but I had no motivation to write until now. Please review and let me know what you thought. I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello again everybody. I'm sorry that it's been so long since I updated this, I've kind of been lacking motivation again, along with tons of schoolwork, assigned reading, trying to get equipment and time set up for my friend and I to record for a Youtube channel we're starting, and writer's block. I'm sorry for letting all that stuff get in the way and not finding time for this. I hope you guys enjoy.**

**Chapter 11!**

Jared's POV

Day by day, life seemed pretty normal now. Nothing eventful really happened, at least according to anyone else. I was still amazed every day by what was happening around me and how my life had changed. The Greek gods were real. Demigods and heroes had, and still, existed. I had a brother now who looked out for me. A friend who enjoyed spending time with me apart from only Josh. My life was finally going somewhere because of my music. Everything was changing quickly around me, and all for the better.

I spent every day training, learning how to survive, spending time with Nico or Kierra, writing music, and generally avoiding most of the people around me. Even if I was one of them, my parentage and appearance was enough reason for me to stay away from the rest of the camp. I usually sat alone in my cabin, or in the forest. I spent a lot of time writing, thinking about writing, or just enjoying the silence of being away from everyone.

The summer was ending, and I knew I would have to go back for my last year of high school and stay with my mother, but I had already been guaranteed a deal when I was an adult, so I would quickly be able to leave as soon as I had the money to get a place to live. I knew if it came to it, Josh would let me live with him if I needed to.

Everything in my life was better now, and I couldn't ask for more.

(In the interest of time and ideas, I'll be writing about his first meeting with his mother and skipping the school year.)

I stood in front of the door to the apartment where my mother was. I hadn't seen her, or even talked to her, since I went to camp. I was too scared of how she would react, and she always said she would be better off without me anyways. I stood, staring at the three numbers on the door, gathering the courage to turn the doorknob.

I took a deep breath, stepped forward, and pushed the door open.

The first thing I noticed was that the place was a mess. Empty and half empty beer bottles were everywhere. A couple of them were broken, shards of glass laying around on the floor where they were. Dirty plates were on the table, and cups were everywhere.

She must have let it all accumulate without me here to clean it. I walked into the apartment and went to my room. My clothes were scattered around the room, my blanket was thrown across the room, and everything was scattered as if she was looking for something in here at some point.

I put down my bag, made my bed, and put the clothes back into the drawers where they were supposed to be. Nothing was damaged fortunately, so I just had to put everything where it should be.

I heard a door slam and went out into the hallway and was met by my mother. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was staggering. I could smell the alcohol on her breath from several feet away.

"Where have you been?" She said. I heard an angry undertone in her words.

"I've been at Camp Half Blood. You never told me who my dad was, and I learned who he was from them."

She tensed when I said the name of the camp.

"I told them I would never send you there. I told them you would be safe with me."

I didn't respond. She was standing two feet away from me, and I didn't know where she was going.

"If you've learned how to survive, why are you here." She said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Because I still need somewhere to stay." I said, cautiously.

"Then why didn't you come back? You didn't even say a WORD!" She said as she swung her hand and slapped the side of my head. I stumbled back after feeling her nails bite into my skin. I put my hand to my head to stop the bleeding. I looked to see if I was going to be hit again, but she had gone back into her room.

I went into the bathroom and washed the small cuts then went to lay on my bed.

This was going to be a long school year.

**I'm sorry this took so long, but I lacked motivation and I got really depressed. I hope you enjoyed this, please review, and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello everybody. It's been a long time, so I figured it was about time that I updated this story. I hope you guys enjoy!**

**Please be forgiving, file upload isn't working so I'm using Copy-N-Paste, so be forgiving of any errors caused by it.**

**Music clips: My own words**

**Chapter 12**

(Like I said, for the sake of time and my imagination, I'm skipping the school year)

Jared's POV

The school year was over! Finally!

I'd survived my way through my senior year. The homework had been harder, there had been more of it, and my mom had been more violent than usual for the first month after I got back, but she was back to "normal" again. I had my backpack full of everything from my locker, and I was walking home.

Very little had happened over the school year, except I had been getting further and further into music. I've been working on my songs every night into the late hours whenever I had an idea. I had a binder full of works-in-progress and ideas that I could make into music. I also had some songs in their finished form, and after buying a high quality mic and some software, I was recording them at Josh's house.

Everything was going well, and my life was getting going in the direction I wanted. I couldn't wait to go to Camp, because it was the only place that it seemed I belonged. Nico came to visit me occasionally, but not usually, and I was excited to see Kierra.

Surprisingly, I hadn't had any incidents with monsters over the year. I was supposedly a really powerful demigod, so they should be looking for me. I asked Nico about it once, but he said it was possible that because I'm a son of Hades, maybe the shadows that people say seem to gather around me are shrouding me from the monsters.

Everything was going well, and I smiled a little as I walked through the crowds of people towards my apartment. My mother knew I was going to camp, but she seemed to be taking it well compared to her reaction when I came back the first time. I hope she's sober when I get home, it's much easier to deal with her when she is.

I was happy, and everything was going well.

The apartment came into sight, and I smiled a little, thinking about how this Fall I would have my own place to live.

I walked in the door into the apartment building and stopped to get the mail before I went up to the apartment. I used my key to open the box and pulled the letters out, then looked through them. Most of them were the standard; bills, notices, a personal letter to my mother, but one stood out. It had professional print and a logo on the envelope, and it was addressed to me.

I set the rest of the letters down and opened the envelop, pulling out the letter and reading it

My eyes scanned across everything that it said.

_Jared Downs:_

_On behalf of Definition Records, I would like to offer you a contract. The terms and conditions will not be drawn up or considered without your consent, and if consented, we will have negotiations concerning topics such as: Royalty fees, music publication requirements, tour dates and locations, commission, and salary._

_I hope you will consider our offer and respond in a timely fashion._

_Sincerely yours, on behalf of Definition Records_

_Connor L. Burns_

I got to the bottom of the letter and had to re-read it. I'd been offered a contract. I knew this was coming, but now I had written proof that this was happening. I was ecstatic.

I ran up the stairs with the mail to the door that led into my apartment and threw it open. I walked in, shut the door, and set the rest of the mail on the table. I didn't see my mother, so I went to my room to start packing what I would need.

I folded the letter back up and put it in my binder that contained all of my music, then took my pen that always carry around out of my jacket, then I took the envelope and started scribbling on the blank side.

_(Imagine this one as more hip-hop than rap, it's a bit lighter)_

_I've been workin' for my entire life_

_I'ma grind to the top, be the poster of hip-hop_

_People, everything so far has been a strife_

_Ain't got nothin' cops, alcohol ain't touched a drop_

I got that far then I decided I could finish at camp, so I put the pen back in my jacket and continued packing.

I took my music binder and put it in my suitcase, then put some clothes on top of it. I took some black and grey shirts, several pairs of black jeans and a grey pair.

I looked around and I thought I had everything. I made sure I had my dagger on me like always and slipped my phone that I bought with the money off of small shows over the year. I know, I know, I shouldn't use it because it's dangerous, but I usually only use it for email, occasional texting, and I use the phone in emergencies. At least, I would, if there were any emergencies.

I took the suitcase and walked out to the kitchen/living room area and saw my mom sitting on the couch. She saw me and stood up, and I could tell from the way she was standing and moving that she was sober.

"I'm leaving now mom."

She stayed silent, but nodded.

Then she raised her arms slightly, and it took me a few seconds to understand. My eyes widened slightly when I realized what she was waiting for. I took the few steps forward and hesitantly gave her a hug. This was probably the first time since I was six years old that I had hugged my own mother.

"Goodbye," She said, "Come home safe."

"Umm, I will."

She still didn't let go, "I… I've been trying to stop drinking."

I pulled away a little, but she continued, "When you left last summer I had a lot of time alone. I thought about everything that had happened, and the scars I caused on you. I've been trying to quit ever since."

I didn't reply. There wasn't anything I could say, she'd been drinking for most of my life I could remember, so I held her tightly in the hug.

"You can do it, I know you can."

People would think that I would be bitter to my mom because of the drinking and abuse, but I've always remembered what it was like when I was little. She taught me how to act, and how to treat people, and I've always just wished she would go back to the way she was.

She tightened the hug for one last second before letting go.

"I should leave now," I said, "Bye mot-, mom."

She smiled a little, "Goodbye."

I picked up my suitcase, turned off the light switch, and walked into the corner, dissolving into shadows.

-(Not the end)-

**I would end this chapter here, but because of the lack of updates recently, I'll keep going. I spoil you with this one. ;)**

I materialized in the shadows inside the Hades cabin. Shadow travel hardly fazed me anymore because I practiced it so much. I always used it to get to school and home, so I was used to it now.

I looked around and smiled at the now familiar setting. I set the suitcase down on my bed and quickly unpacked. I set the binder on the desk I used, put my clothes in my dresser, and checked that my pen and envelope were still with me.

I put the envelope on the desk, and decided to work on it later. I pushed the door open and walked out into the sunlight of camp.

I looked around and saw what was always here. Campers walking around in groups, talking, laughing with friends, a couple kids arguing, some laughing, and one pair was sparring out in the open. Just a normal day at camp.

I walked toward the arena where we practiced sword fighting to get used to fighting again. I was a little rusty after the months without fighting.

While I was on my way there, I found Nico sitting in the shadows outside the arena.

"Hey man! It's been forever since you came to visit."

He looked up and smiled a little. As far as I knew, I was the only living person who could make Nico do that.

"It's hard to visit when you never stay where I can find you."

"Psshh! No excuse!" I said, over-dramatically waving my hands around.

He smirked, "Got a little energy?"

Before I could answer, he stood up. "Come on, I have something for you before you go train."

I followed him as he walked around to the back of the arena to a small shed where some weapons were kept. He opened the door and walked a few steps inside for a few seconds before coming back out. In his hands, he had a freshly oiled black scabbard, and the hilt of a sword was showing with a black leather grip.

"This is yours." Nico said.

I was confused, but took the sword. I pulled the sword out of the scabbard and looked at it. It was a black sword like Nico's. I swung it around a little experimentally and felt that the balance was perfect. I sheathed it and looked back to Nico. "Where did you get this?"

"It was a gift from dad. I told him you needed a sword, and this is what you get."

"It's perfect." I said, looking at the sword again.

"There. Now, go try it out." He said.

I put the sword at my side and walked back to the front so I could enter the arena.

I walked in to be greeted by the sight of Kierra tearing some training dummies to pieces.

I watched for a few minutes as she cut them down, piece by piece.

I finally walked forward until I was behind her and put my dagger that I still had to her neck and said "I win."

She turned around and punched me in the arm while smiling. "So you survived a year!"

I feigned hurt, "Of course, did you doubt me?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but I hoped that my best friend wouldn't die over the year without me to protect him."

"You don't think I can defend myself?"

"Not at all." She said, smirking.

"Alright, fight me then."

"You're sure? I don't want to humiliate you on your first day back to camp."

I drew my sword as a reply.

She looked warily at the new black sword, then raised her weapon.

We started dueling, back and forth. It had been a long time since I'd fought, but I was getting the hang of it quickly. We fought, trading blows. Slash, stab, parry, sidestep, slash, parry, back up, we kept fighting, moving around the arena. I nearly backed into the wall, so I moved a bit to the side as we fought before I had an idea.

I slashed at her, purposefully over-extending my reach so she could hit my hand and force me to drop my sword.

She smirked and stepped towards me, raising her sword. "Yield, I won."

I smirked, "Not yet." Then drew my dagger.

She swung at me, but by the time the sword reached me, it was nothing but air and her sword hit the ground.

She stood back up but I put my dagger to her neck from behind, shadows still coming off of my skin from the short jump of shadow travel behind her.

"I win." I said.

She sheathed her sword, and I realized I had my arm around her waist to hold her where I had her so I wouldn't cut her.

I quickly removed my arm and dagger.

She turned around, and her face was slightly red.

"Good job." I said, but my face felt like it was a bit warm.

She nodded, "You too."

I picked up my sword and sheathed it again, putting it at my side.

She went back to practicing and I went back out of the arena and to shower.

I got clean and went back to my cabin, laying down on the bed with my phone, headphones, and my pen and a paper. I didn't have any ideas, so I just listened to the music, thinking, then muttered the words as they played.

"Never been one to party very much; usually just sit around talk, read and such; Makin' music, perfect it with my touch; Out too late, drivin' home I'm burnin' out the clutch."

I set the pen down. I couldn't think of anything right now, so might as well just relax.

I took a deep breath, thinking about what would happen this year, and smiled. This was gonna be good.

**This was a longer chapter than normal, so I hope you enjoyed it! Please review to let me know what you thought! I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you in the next one!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello again everybody. Like I said, I hope to update more often than I have been, so I'm back again! I hope you guys enjoy, and I heard the idea that Jared meets Percy, I was actually planning on it, but that won't happen for quite a while, so don't hold your breath.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13!**

Jared's POV

Camp was just like I remembered it. Training was fun even though it was hard, and I was much better with a sword now that I had one that felt right in my hands.

I was in the arena sparring with a kid from the Ares cabin. He was better than most of the kids in camp, but I could still manage to beat him most days. Most kids seemed to hate the Ares kids, but I didn't see why. They were a bit over-aggressive, but they were usually ok. Tom, the kid I was currently fighting, was a pretty nice guy. He'd been trying to knock me out the first time we met in capture the flag, but after I beat him he decided I was worth some respect, and he became my friend. I still don't talk to people much, but he was one of the few I do talk to, and I spar with him mostly because Nico has things to do and is often gone, and I can't ask Kierra to come spar that often.

I feinted to his left and quickly changed the direction of my sword mid-swing, stopping it at his neck. "I win again." I said, panting a little to catch my breath.

"I didn't have a good grip on my sword." He responded.

"Sure Tom, whatever you say." I said, rolling my eyes.

I sheathed my sword at my side and stretched, still catching my breath from the last sparring session. One thing Tom was really good at was making sure I never got a breather in the middle of a fight.

"I'm gonna go back to my cabin to get ready for dinner." He told me.

I nodded and he left the arena to shower and change into some clean clothes. I walked to the side where some benches were sitting and sat on the edge of one. I put the sword down on the bench next to me, leaned back, and closed my eyes. Most people would think I was sleeping, or getting my breath, but I was thinking about music.

I spend a lot of time doing that now, and it seems that whenever I'm holding still, that's what comes to mind. I have few friends to worry about offending, no girlfriend, and nowhere to be, so I have a lot of time to myself to think. I tried to think out a few more lines, but I've been having writer's block for the last couple days. Nothing seemed to sound right, no matter what I tried.

I felt a thin line of pressure on my neck, and I opened my eyes to see Kierra, smiling as she held her knife to my throat. "I win again."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, you did."

"So?" She asked.

"What?"

"What do I win?"

"I don't know, I wasn't exactly expecting to be ambushed."

"How about…" She said, biting her lip and seemingly thinking, "A trip to another concert? You still have to book one."

"I know, I know. I finally got the offer for the contract, so soon I'll be able to go through the legal parts of it, then I can schedule some shows with my producers. Maybe once we get the contract figured I can-" I stopped, seeing a glazed look in her eyes.

I snapped my fingers in front of her a few times, until she blinked twice and looked at me again.

"Point being that I'll have one planned soon."

"You could've just said that." She replies, a little exasperated.

I smirked, "But then I wouldn't have the opportunity to confuse you."

She rolled her eyes, and asked "So what have you been up to?"

I shrugged, "Not much. School, which sucked, working on my songs and trying to get them figured out, I've looked around for some producers, and doing occasional little opening shows. You?"

"Training, training, and more training." She said in a bored tone. Kierra was a year-rounder, with no mother, so she spent all of her time at camp and rarely left.

"Well, I'm back to entertain!" I replied, spreading my arms in the air dramatically.

"So what shall we do?" She asked, using the bad fake British accent she'd picked from me.

"Mmm… Not sure."

"You never have ideas."

"Because you're always the spontaneous one!"

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "It's your turn to come up with an idea, I'll be in my cabin when you do."

She walked off to leave me to my thoughts. I had an idea, but I'd been saving it, but it was my last option.

"Well," I muttered to myself, "Time to try this."

**I know this was more of a filler chapter, but I wasn't sure what to do or where to go with it in this one. I hope you enjoyed! Please review, and I hope to see you in the next one!**


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